Saturday, September 25, 2010
Georgia's Gay Pastor
ATLANTA — As a Christian author, gospel singer, and leader of one of the nation’s best-known black megachurches, television preacher Bishop Eddie Long -- a married father of four -- used jewelry, cars, and cash to lure three young men into sexual relationships....
A lawyer for Long, who writes books on heterosexual relationships and has strong ties to the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., adamantly denied the allegations. Few at Long’s 25,000-strong church will discuss the situation, and the grounds were quiet yesterday, save for a small group walking in prayer.
Those who will speak say they are supporting him.... members are hurting.
B.J. Bernstein, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said her case hinges on the testimony of her three clients and that she does not have much physical evidence backing up her complaint.
Oh no. Another gold-digger!
Long sent dozens of e-mails and phone calls to her clients, though they were not “overly sexual,’’ she said.
Pfffft!
Bernstein said she plans to subpoena records from Long that will show he traveled with the young men to New York, Las Vegas, New Zealand, and elsewhere.
Long has been silent since the lawsuits were filed, though he did have a press conference planned for today. But radio, Internet sites like Facebook and Twitter, and cable television news shows have been abuzz....
Which is why I am not.
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"Pastor accused of abuse preached abstinence; Youth program lured victims, lawsuits allege" by Greg Bluestein, Associated Press | September 25, 2010
ATLANTA — Bishop Eddie Long’s boys’ academy guided teens through their “masculine journey’’ with lessons on financial discipline and sexual control, right down to a little card the students had to carry in their wallets reminding them why they should not have sex.
Long himself, though, has been accused of contradicting those virtues. The bishop, who has been an outspoken opponent of gay marriage, is being sued by two young men who attended the LongFellows Youth Academy and say Long used the program to groom them for sexual relationships.
Two other men have made similar accusations, including one who filed a lawsuit yesterday. That lawsuit, provided to the Associated Press, said Long coerced him into a sexual relationship during a trip to Kenya, at one point telling the young man, “I will be your dad.’’
The men, who were 17 and 18 at the time, say that Long recruited them for the academy after they joined New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and that Long used cars, jewelry, and cash to lure them into trysts....
The TV pastor bills the academy as a “rite of passage program for males,’’ and it trains about 100 students during a four-month session for $500 a person. Long and his board of advisers, which includes NFL star Ray Lewis, created a daunting regimen, demanding that the students run 2 miles in less than 15 minutes and bench-press and squat their weight.
Long, whose church’s finances have been investigated by Congress, wants the students to keep a sharp fiscal mind, too. They have to understand Social Security, calculate interest rates on investments, and work a job for at least three months.
So who is going to investigate Congress?
The program also focuses on relationships, with students vowing sexual purity. The young men carry a “Sex Self-Check Card’’ in their wallets listing their vision for life, a favorite scripture, and “three things you could be doing instead of having sex.’’
But if given the choice....
Two of the three plaintiffs said in the lawsuits that Long was too cozy with the academy’s participants.
A third man, who was not enrolled in the academy, has filed a lawsuit making similar accusations.
Anthony Flagg, who joined at age 16, said Long chose him as a “spiritual son’’ after learning of the young man’s challenges growing up without a father. Flagg moved into another minister’s home after being arrested on when he was 18. Long would crawl into bed with him, and the two would engage in sexual acts, the lawsuit said.
A second plaintiff, Maurice Robinson, said his mother enrolled him in the LongFellows program when he was 14. Long started lavishing attention on him the following year, and a church employee soon rewarded the teen with a Chevy Malibu, the lawsuit said. The two began engaging in sexual acts after an October 2008 trip to New Zealand, the suit said....
Of course, there is NO REL EVIDENCE but that never seems to bother the agenda-pushing media.
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What happened?
WHO the FUCK CARES?
